Reviews

This is the Chinese Jules et Jim...so beautiful in its misty mountains...it's hard truths about communism and political harshness. Unbelievable in its many awful truths. But ultimately, one of the most beauteous of all films...especially in the way it deals with the entry into the imagination of beauty through reading, which was forbidden to these peasants...but they took a risk anyway in order to experience those pleasures.

I will always remember this film and its transforming power over my rational mind. I believe the power of this film is the human spirit which sounds like blah blah blah but I really mean it. The human spirit soars from beginning to end in the story. The film captures every moment.

This film starts right out catching you up in its premise of randy young couple in a sophisticated Chicago Art GAllery. From there, it swiftly moves to North Carolina and the central painter who seems to be a bit nutty but good at what he does.

Embeth Davidtz is impossible to ignore. Amy Adams' face fills the screen and pulls you to her. Her husband, Johnny, is sullen and possibly psychotic. George, the husband of Madeline (Davidtz) is the golden boy.

The rest of the film take you deep into the nitty gritty of the family. The walls are a bit thin and various people can hear what other people might be doing late at night.

I won't tell how it ends, but suffice it to say, this is one of the most unusual films I have seen in a lifetime of unique films. I liked it and will think about it for the rest of my life.

He is most beautiful here. If you are a Johnny Depp lover, as am I, you will enjoy his performance here, completely. Some reviewers have said it glows but it does not flame. For me it flamed but glowing is great too.

His character is entirely sympathetic and empathetic. The ending is sad but I would like to read more about this episode. In real life, I think Barrie would have acted sooner on his feelings for her. I fould Kate Winslet to be perfect for the role and the little boys were truly delightful. The scenes from the play were breathtaking and delicious but I though Julie Christie's character was a bust.

Beautifully appointed film...eye candy to the designer in each of us. This film shocks, to a degree, only because we are not familiar with hearing the way we really talk imitated on the big screen.

I like the style of Mike Nichols. And each one of these stars showed me something I had never seen in them previously. Clive Owen has made himself a major star in this film...as has Natalie Portman. Jude Law is more desirable here than I have ever witnessed before and even Julia Roberts who is normally beautiful, looks moreso.

I recommend this film to any thinking movie buff who wonders whether or not to spend your good money on it. It sweeps you off to a place not particularly better than the one you live in but most likely more interesting.

I made the mistake of buying this DVD before seeing it, as I customarily buy all of Johnny Depp's films. The ending was misguided and darkened my life for about 24 hours.

His acting was fine. The story was a mishmash. The plot was highly difficult to follow. I didn't like The Shining either. And there was nothing indicated in the early film to take you down the road it ended up in.

This film is essentially about insanity. Nothing else. And a bit of small town folklore.

Bad taste in my mouth.

And I usually (obviously) love watching him.

Eve

He has it...more than any actor alive. He actually makes Brad Pitt look a bit lame. Very talented, very sexy guy. The film plot is insulting to women but the sex is marvelous. See it. The last third, forget.

The story-line sort of petered out at the end but Julia Ormond was incredible all the way through. Her tough mouth and angelic face keep one entirely mystified and enervated although the story is rather weak, really.

Gabriel Burne was mysterious. I was not always sure what side he was on. I would have liked to see Smilla in the snow more...watch her move in it, her chosen environment.

The little boy was truly beautiful.

This cult film is a must see. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are truly in a world of their own with this one. The real Ed Wood was a sensation of sorts in his time and continues to fascinate, although with heavy laughter.

As Roger Ebert says, when poor movie making reaches these heights (or depths), there ensues a sort of grandeur. I could not believe my eyes. And the parts about Bela were touching and beautiful in their weirdness as well. Loved the angora.

This is a ten.

I just saw this film for the first time Friday night and it was amazing and hilarious. I grew up in a convent near Chicago, Illinois and believe me it was NOTHING like this. The rooms were spacious, ours were cramped. The girls snuck out at night. If we had done that we would have been expelled in a moment.

The film is good though from the standpoint of seeing Russell Crowe as a smiling teenager. Now he is a rather brooding middle-aged man. It took me quite a while to realize it was he.

Can anyone tell me which woman was with him, making out in the car, the night before he went into the army? I think she is famous now but I cannot identify her from the list. She was, by the way, expelled the very next morning.

A very theatrical idea of what a convent is like. If only it were really that interesting!

Right from the beginning, you sympathize with this neglected yet spoiled little girl. Normally I adore Maggie Smith, but here the director is so astute, Maggie becomes Medlock and makes your blood boil with her officiousness and her thin-lipped inability to see or feel for the children. Luckily they all fend for themselves and create a world both unbelievable and wholly needed in our dry and hurried lives. It is for films like these that I go to the theater. It is because of stories like these that my sleep is peopled with gorgeous landscapes and interesting remarks.

Although the novel differs from the film in several fundamental scenes, this story is remarkable in its own right. It will spark your interest in reading her books which, for their time and even our own, are so observant of human nature...so sympathetic to the basic weakness in most of us, and so mischievous in style that you will become hooked. The casting is perfect. Harold Pinter as the pater familias is unforgettable. Fanny Price, played by both the young and the adult women, will remain in your memory for years to come.

If you are a Duvall nut, as I shall forever be, you must rush out and rent this immediately. I spent last night cuddled up with my husband sobbing quietly at this rich and beautifully told story of a shy Cuban barber and a salty sea captain thrown together in retirement hell. They make, needless to say, a momentary paradise out of their touching and sly friendship. Some of the best ensemble acting you will ever witness. Go...now!

Since I saw this film I have gone on a mad foray into Brontedom and come up with incredible facts. Charlotte Bronte, for example did lose not one but two sisters to the rigid upbringing encountered at Lowood School. While still at home, she did, in fact look down from her window onto a graveyard of Gothic design. I ate this film up like ice cream...as will any person whose childhood was dominated by those less charitable, and perhaps by anyone who has a slightly otherworldly sensibility. And as for William Hurt, he couldn't have been better cast. His off-kilter sense of humor is perfect for the attractive and inscrutable Mr. Rochester. Ms. Gainsbourg is also well chosen. Her innate sense of dignity and her fierce intelligence carry her easily through this difficult role.

Mamet captures the psychotic terrain of the complete loser. It is actually painful to watch and listen to...especially if you have a family member whose brain skids all over the place as does Teach in this film. How easily the Franz character was influenced by this nutcase. But I know these people. Life does this to some of us. Mamet captures that. Subconsciously it tells us a lot about human nature we would rather not know.

It has been three days since I watched this film and yet its colors, its sadness, it's simple beauty stay and stay. This is the kind of film I would like to leave to my grandchildren to let them know what life was like for some...and how perfection can come to those who hold on, even when it seems there is nothing to hold on to.

Anne Lamott is so perfect in this as herself. When you see her, even in person, you cannot get close enough to her to actually see every nuance of expression (like you can in her writing) and that frustrates me. But the camera can and does. It captures every sly smile. Every tiny disappointment. Every weird voice high and low she gets into her repertoire as she goes through a typical day looking Anne-like. This is a wonderful film.

This film is like a beautiful impressionist painting. The story is quite good overall yet the middle of it, where they do so much giggling could have been tightened a bit. Robin Wright Penn is beautiful to watch and plays most of the nuances of her part well. The only place where she seems a bit naive is when she is running a board meeting. Why would that be?

Paul Newman was disarmingly funny. The small son was darling and well cast. The sailing scenes were breathtaking. The end was very very surprising and I would have liked it to have been different or at least that they would have spent more time together. I also did not understand why a man who is such an excellent writer wrote only three letters during the whole story.

I do recommend it for a rainy cold night by the fire. Romantic and moving.

This story intrigues year after year. I have seen every version of this story that has ever been filmed yet this was the best. Joseph Finnes was more beautiful here even than in Shakespeare In Love.

Elizabeth herself was cast to perfection. The fabrics were sumptuous. The castles were mysterious and monumental. The scenes of sex were among the most lovely I have ever witnessed on screen.

Although there were some grizzled scenes of torture and beheading, the scenes of beauty and monarchy were far more lasting in my mind.

The story is confusing and the more one studies the actual history the more confusing the story becomes. The Earl Of Leicester seems to have been the perfect cad/charmer. Elizabeth had his number but still could not resist him. In the end she could listen only to herself and that seems to have been enough.

This film is great for anyone who has noted a generation gap of late. Brendan Frasier is perfect as Adam. Alicia Silverstone is cast as the street-wise Eve. Sissy Spacek grows more and more manic during her time underground. Christopher Walken is absolutely at the top of his weird form as the Dad. The dancing scene was exciting and will be replayed over and over as was John Travolta's years ago (and still).

I recommend this film to anyone who wants a break from car chases and angst in general. It is light and well written and extremely funny.